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Details of the missing persons: 1. Name:
Narayanamoorthy Kandeepan Age: 30
Marital status: Single
Address: Power Station Road, Odakkarai, Pointpedro,
Jaffna
Occupation: Deminer & Tailor
2. Name: Thambaih Tharmasri Age: 28
Marital status: Married to Kandeepan’s sister
Address: Power Station Road, Odakkarai, Pointpedro,
Jaffna
Occupation: Deminer
 Kandeepan
studied at the Sithivinayagr School. After sitting his
GCE OL examination he started working in a tailor’s
shop. There he learnt tailoring and later started his
own tailoring shop. He trained his two younger brothers
to be tailors and they were all working in his
“Kandeepan Tailor Shop”.
Kandeepan helped with the matchmaking between his
sister and Tharmasri and they were married only seven
months ago. Tharmasri and his wife (Kandeepan’s sister)
also live in the same house with Kandeepan, his parents
and his siblings. Kandeepan’s family said that his
sister, who is pregnant, is in a state of shock, unable
to talk or eat. The villagers and indeed the people of
the entire Jaffna peninsula recognize the pattern of
this abduction to several others that have happened
recently. There are good reasons for the family’s fear.
None of those who have been abducted in this manner have
been found so far.
Incident
Kandeepan (30) and Tharmasri (28) live in the same
house and work for the Danish Demining Group (DDG) in
Jaffna. Kandeepan and Tharmasri both leave for work at
the crack of dawn on a motorbike and return home by 2.00
pm. It is the practice in Northeast to start demining
work just before sunrise and finish around midday so
that workers do not have to stand in the hot sun all
day.
On Wednesday 11th of January
they left for work as usual at 5.30 am. Occupants from
their house say that they heard Kandeepaan receiving
three calls that morning. Kandeepan was heard saying
that he is leaving soon.
Less than one hour later someone
in the neighbourhood brought the National Identity Card
and the mobile phone belonging to Kandeepan and handed
it over at Kandeepan’s home. The neighbour said that it
was found on the road. Family went out to investigate
what has happened and the following was told by several
people in the neighbourhood as witnessed by them. The
attached map is useful to follow the description given
by Kandeepan’s neighbours.
Residents close to the location
where Kandeepan and Tharmasri were abducted say that
they saw several Sri Lankan army (SLA) soldiers standing
on the road in that early hours of the morning just
before the two men were abducted. People said that they
thought the SLA was planning an early morning roundup.
Travelers who arrived at the
Nalu Juntion (A on the map) and the VB road junction (B
on the map) said that they were turned away by the SLA
preventing them from entering the strip of road between
A and B. They also said that they saw a white van parked
at both these two junctions.
When Kandeepan and Tharmasri
were traveling on this strip of road between Odakkarai
junction and VB Road junction (B) there were no other
civilians on that strip of road except the SLA soldiers
who were roaming.
According to the residents on
this strip of road they heard noises and voices. When
they attempted to look out the SLA threatened them to
keep inside. Kandeepan and Tharmasri were then forced
into the white van while the two resisted the attempt.
As the white van drove away with the two men Kandeepan
had thrown his National Identity Card, his mobile phone
and other belongings that were in his pocket on the
road.
As soon as the two men were
abducted in the white van the SLA soldiers, manning the
road, started walking back to their camp shown on the
map. Residents saw the soldiers walking back.
Other people have told the
family that they saw the white van driving to the
military camp in the Pallapai high security zone.
When the family went to lodge a
complaint at the police station (see map) and told the
police what they have heard from the residents, the
police there have asked the family for evidence that the
two men were abducted. Later they also suggested that
someone else may have abducted the two men.
Dr N Malathy (NESOHR Secretary) |
